Aug 27 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

`50% of road deaths at traffic junctions'

Dipak.Dash@timesgroup.com

New Delhi





Study Stresses Need To Redesign Crossings

Better be alert at every traffic junction. Numbers show India’s traffic junctions as the most dangerous spots, accounting for a large number of fatalities.The annual accident report also highlights the need for better designing of such junctions and proper monitoring of traffic flow.
The latest data show at least 75,200 people lost their lives in crashes at traffic crossings in 2013, which is over 50% of the total deaths on Indian roads. While more than 60,000 such deaths were reported at road crossings, another 15,000 died at roadrail crossings.
According to the figures, 56,868 deaths were recorded at uncontrolled junctions having no traffic light or traffic police. For the first time, the report also highlights how bad road conditions, particularly potholes, caused 9,700 crashes and claimed 2,600 lives. Maximum such deaths were reported in UP where 760 people died. Though MP reported a maximum of 2,888 crashes due to potholes, but the number of fatalities was 383. The report shows about 25,800 people died at T-junctions while 13,500 fatalities took place at Y-junctions.
Four-arm junctions registered nearly 10,800 fatalities and about 7,800 people lost lives at staggered junctions. But traffic expert Rohit Baluja questioned the credibility of such data as there is no scientific data collection and investigation except just relying on police reports.
For the full report, log on to http://www.timesofindia.com

India Fastest Growing Source of International Students to NZ: Report - 

India is the fastest growing source of international students to New Zealand, a recent report has revealed. The number of Indian students seeking student visas to New Zealand has witnessed an increase of more than 80 per cent between January – July 2014 as compared to the same period last year.

According to the latest figures released by Education New Zealand, India is the fastest growing source of international students to New Zealand. Student visas issued to Indian nationals seeking to study in New Zealand also increased by a staggering 123 per cent between January-July 2014 as compared to the same period in 2013.

Commenting on the report, New Zealand High Commissioner to India, Grahame Morton said, “New Zealand’s economic future is very much tied to our key relationships and India is a key export market for New Zealand and is one of the fastest growing large economies in the world. New Zealand’s success over the next 20 years will be determined by our level of connectedness with the rest of the world. One of the best ways we can make these connections is through the people-to-people links that international education offers”.

In a move to attract more students to New Zealand, Education New Zealand (ENZ) is conducting education fairs in major cities like Mumbai, Chennai and New Delhi and also other parts of the country. The fairs will offer students an opportunity to talk directly with New Zealand education institutions and find the programme that is right for them.

According to Immigration New Zealand Area Manager Nathanael Mackay, New Zealand has put in place policies to make the country a top choice for international students. A range of scholarships are available to students interested in studying in New Zealand, including the New Zealand India Sports Scholarships which were recently announced by High Commissioner Morton and well-known cricketer Stephen Fleming. The New Zealand government has also made changes to its work rights programme which allow more international students to work while they study, enabling them to gain valuable first world business experience.

- See more at: http://digitallearning.eletsonline.com/2014/08/india-fastest-growing-source-of-international-students-to-nz-report/#sthash.fYKsGltw.dpuf

Poor Quality of Higher Education Disappointing: President - 

President Pranab Mukherjee has expressed concern over the poor standards of higher educational institutes in India as compared to international standards.

Saddened with the absence of any Indian institute in the list of top 200 universities prepared by grading organisations, the President said that despite the presence of  over 720 universities, 37,000 degree colleges and 11,000 polytechnic institutes, the standards of higher education institutes remained ‘abysmally low’.

The President said that a culture of excellence must be promoted in higher academic institutions and core competencies must be nurtured. He also laid emphasis on the industry and academia tie up to create the right synergies and environment for industrial growth and industrial excellence and said that academic cooperation with institutions must also be encouraged.

He was addressing a gathering at the inauguration of the first Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) of the country at Shibpur, Howrah, West Bengal on August 24.

- See more at: http://digitallearning.eletsonline.com/2014/08/poor-quality-of-higher-education-disappointing-president/#sthash.KYUtJCWJ.dpuf

Post Matric Scholarship for Assam students Wednesday, August 20, 2014 Kolkata: Applications in the prescribed format are invited from the students belonging to SC/ST categories for Post Matric Scholarship to be awarded by the Govt. of Assam for the year 2014-15.  Students belonging to SC/ST categories of the state of Assam admitted to the 1st semester of different programmes may collect the prescribed application forms...

Aug 26 2014 : Mirror (Pune)

Universe's earliest stars were monstrous: Study

TOKYO IANS





Little is known about the universe’s earliest stars but if we believe astronomers, they might have been hundreds of times more massive than the sun. Researchers have found evidence of the existence of the “monster stars” long thought to have populated the early universe.With hundreds of times the mass of the sun, such stars would have been the first to fuse primordial hydrogen and helium into heavier elements, leaving behind a chemical signature that the researchers have now found in an ancient, second generation star.
Simulations have long predicted that some of this first batch of stars were enormous.
“With masses of more than 100 times that of the sun, they would have lived and died in the cosmic blink of an eye, a few million years,” said Wako Aoki from the National Astrono mical Observatory of Japan in Tokyo.
As they exploded in supernovae, they created the first heavy elements from which later galaxies and stars evolved. Using a technique called stellar archaeology, Aoki and his colleagues found the first hint of such a star, preserved in the chemical makeup of its ‘ancient daughter’.
The chemistry of this relic – a star called SDSS J0018-0939 – suggests that it may have formed from a cloud of gas seeded with material created in the explosion of a single, very massive star.
“It seems Aoki has finally found an old relic that shows intriguing evidence that there really was such a monstrous star in the distant past,” added Naoki Yoshida, an astrophysicist at the University of Tokyo who was not involved in the study.
The results were published in the journal Science.

Aug 26 2014 : Mirror (Pune)

Honeybees originated in Asia, not Africa says study

LONDON PTI





Honeybees appear to have originated from Asia around 3,00,000 years ago and not from Africa as previously thought, according to a new study. Researchers carried out the first global analysis of genome variation in honeybees. Their findings show a surprisingly high level of genetic diversity, and indicate that the species most probably originated from Asia, and not from Africa as believed.The honeybee (Apis mellifera) is of crucial importance for humanity. One third of our food is dependent on the pollination of fruits, nuts and vegetables by bees and other insects. Extensive losses of honeybee colonies in recent years are a major cause for concern. Honeybees face threats from disease, climate change, and management practices, researchers said.
To combat these threats it is important to understand the evolutionary history of honeybees and how they are adapted to different environments across the world, they said.
“In contrast to other domestic species, management of honeybees seems to have increased levels of genetic variation by mixing bees from different parts of the world. The findings may also indicate that high levels of inbreeding are not a major cause of global colony losses,“ said Matthew Webster from Uppsala University.
Another unexpected result was that bees seem to be derived from an ancient lineage of cavity-nesting bees that arrived from Asia around 3,00,000 years ago and rapidly spread across Europe and Africa. This stands in contrast to previous research that suggests thy originated from Africa.
“The evolution ary tree we con structed from ge nome sequences does not support an origin in Africa, this gives us new insight into how honey bees spread and became adapted to habitats across the world,“ said Webster.
Hidden in the patterns of genome variation are signals that indicate large cyclical fluctuations in population size that mirror historical patterns of glaciation. This indicates that climate change has strongly impacted honeybee populations historically.
They also identified specific mutations in genes important in adaptation to climate and pathogens.
The study was published in the journal Nature Genetics.

Coaching centres come under Supreme Court scanner

Coaching centres for professional courses, which have mushroomed across the country and are notorious for harassing students over fees and issuing misleading advertisements about their achievements that create false hope and even lead to suicides amongst students, have come under the scanner of the Supreme Court. 

Shockingly, the Human Resource Development Ministry, in an affidavit filed in the apex court in connection with a PIL on the issue, has admitted to suicides by students enrolled at coaching centres. However, it washed its hands of the matter, saying it is the responsibility of states to act against errant institutes. "Human Resource Development Ministry is only responsible for coordination and determination of standards in institutions for higher education and research, scientific and technical institutions.

There have been instances of suicides committed by students, including of premier educational institutions like IITs and NITs and the reasons as per fact finding and inquiry committees have been depression, peer pressure and emotional. Concerned state's law and order authority has to take action against the coaching centre," said the affidavit filed by Gopal Krishna, a senior HRD ministry official.

He said the report of a central task force had recommended a counselling centre in each institute but most centres have not implemented this measure. The alarming situation, which raises serious questions about the manner of functioning of a large number of coaching centres that have mushroomed across the country, was brought to the notice of the apex court through the PIL filed by the Students Federation of India (SFI), the students' wing of the CPI-M.

"Because of the hype created by the aggressive advertising by the coaching institutes, a situation has arisen where when a child realizes that he can't make it to the attempted medical or engineering course, the guilt of spending his/her father's hard-earned money on coaching classes is leading him/her to commit suicide," the PIL said. Quoting a report by credit rating agency Crisil, the PIL said the private coaching business is currently worth Rs.40,000 crore a year and is expected to grow to more than Rs.80,000 crore.
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Realising the gravity of the situation, the CBSE informed the apex court that it recently issued a circular which stated: "Premises of CBSE schools should not be used for commercial activity. No coaching classes or parallel classes should be run in a school that consumes and affects regular time table of school and that deviates focus of students from regular course of study."

The SFI's lawyers, Deepak Prakash and Subhash Chandran, argued that the coaching centres not only caused a financial burden on students by insisting on payment of the entire course fee in advance but also created psychological problems and increased stress levels. "These coaching institutions offer false hopes to students and parents, promising bright results even though the candidate may not even have an aptitude for engineering or medicine," the PIL said.

Source | http://indiatoday.intoday.in